My REALLLLY long Christmas post!

Merry Christmas from the Lee's.
I tried to stay on top of all of my shopping and Christmas stuff and get it done early so that I wouldn't be so stressed out and busy as Christmas drew closer, but that didn't happen. I did get most of my Christmas cards out, but I did not get them all out- so if you didn't get one sorry this will have to do. This the picture that we ended up using for our card this year.

So, now that Christmas is over I finally have a little bit of time to sit down and document all of the fun that we have had in the month of December. It is a lot, I have trouble narrowing down the pictures to just a few..................

Our community had it's annual tree lighting celebration, this was the first year we have attended- we never knew about it in the past. We got there late and it was a cold cold night so we had some hot cocoa(the cookies were all gone) and checked out Mrs. Clause and some carolers. Then we were able to go on a horse and carriage ride- a first for us. The kids loved it, we will definitely be doing that again next year!

Shivering in front of the Stonebridge Ranch tree, sipping hot cocoa

Bundled up under a blanket on the carriage

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The weekend before Christmas we went to downtown Frisco to see the lights. They also had a lot of activities for the kids. They had bounce houses, rock climbing walls, video games, a train, and Santa and it was all free- it doesn't get much better than that!

This is the first picture of my kids with Santa EVER! I have tried year after year but they were always too scared, this year it was no big deal(well, Paige was pretty terrified)!

If you look closely at this picture you may notice that Addyson is missing one of her top right teeth. She was standing in line for the train and thought her tooth seemed wiggly. She said,"mom, my tooth is loose." I tried to wiggle it and said,"It doesn't feel loose to me." Addyson says,"yes it is!" and pushes it out with her finger and the tooth goes flying! Wha, how did that happen! So, she was right but sadly we couldn't find the tooth(the second time a tooth got lost before the tooth fairy could get it). Luckily she wrote the tooth fairy a note explaining where she lost it and the tooth fairy was able to find it- whew!

Rock climbing

Ethan was so brave

Paige also had her first experience in a bounce house. The attendant who was manning the bounce house had a great idea to let the little little kids all go together for a round so they wouldn't get trampled. Paige LOVED it! She was so happy bouncing around and falling all over the place. Then, someone accidentally unplugged the power cord to the bounce house and it started to come down on all the little ones- a bit scary but they all got our safe.

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Christmas Eve we decided to try out a couple of new things, possibly some new traditions. One thing that was so much fun was acting out the nativity story with the kids. Addyson was Mary, Ethan was Joseph, Paige was a shepherd, I was the angel, and Dave was the narrator/filmmaker. Dave read the story and the kids played their parts as he read it. Paige had a little trouble once baby Jesus was born because she wanted to play with the baby and didn't want anyone else touching him. After we were done we watched it and laughed so hard, and then we watched it again and again.

Our little shepherd

Ethan as Joseph

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Christmas morning I awoke to the sound of the kids already rummaging through their stockings, I guess we should have laid down some ground rules before bed. Luckily they didn't touch their presents, although Addyson organized all of her presents into a nice pile.

No stocking is complete without a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Addyson got her webkinz!

The babydolls and stroller were the biggest hit for Paige! She wasn't sure what she thought about opening presents until she opened these. She has been carrying her baby around with her 24/7 since Christmas.

Ethan got some really cool gifts, I was so excited to see his face when he opened them! What a letdown, he didn't really get excited about any of them- huh, you asked for them kid! The only gift he really cared about was his Bakugan rollers, which by the way he got 3 of and one is lost and one is broken what like 5 days later- ugh!!

Addyson's favorite gift was her Heelies! She has been asking for them for a while. I don't think those things have left her feet, she has gotten really good at them.

So, this is what I discovered this year.......they don't need a lot of gifts, they only need 1 or 2 really good gifts! When I was a kid I loved waking up Christmas morning and seeing a ton of presents under the tree, it was always so exciting. I wanted to re-create that feeling for my kids. The problem is, they just don't appreciate all those gifts when they get so many all at once. Next year I am saving my money!

Christmas Day was a wonderful day spent with family and friends. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many loved ones! We hope everyone had as an enjoyable Christmas season as we did!